Detachable probe cover for ear thermometer and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

This present invention discloses a detachable probe cover for an ear thermometer and a manufacturing method thereof. The detachable probe cover for the ear thermometer is for being mounted onto a measuring probe of the ear thermometer, wherein a combining mechanism is provided at a bottom of the measuring probe and the detachable probe cover comprises a main body of a hollow structure and a base, in which the main body has an open end and a closed end opposite to the open end, and the hollow structure has a diameter gradually reducing from the open end toward the closed end.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part application of, and claimsthe benefit of priority from, the U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/116,304 filed on May 7, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,092,082 thecontents of which are incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a probe cover for an ear thermometerand, more particularly, to a detachable probe cover for an earthermometer.

2. Description of Related Art

In the known technical field, a cover for sheathing a temperature probeof an ear thermometer may be referred to the disclosure of some patentssuch as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,088,834 and 6,022,140. The prior disclosurerelates to a unitary probe cover that is equipped with a rim at aproximal portion thereof to couple a retention ears on the earthermometer probe so as to fix the probe cover onto the ear thermometerprobe. Further, a side wall of the probe cover is preferentiallydeformed in reaction to the ear thermometer probe straightening asurface of the cover. However, since the side wall is made of a materialhaving limited elasticity, it can also provide limited effect onrelaxing manufacturing tolerances. That is, the surface at a distal endportion of the cover can not be efficiently expanded, resulting ininaccurate measuring results of the ear thermometer. Furthermore,patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,163,418, 5,906,437, 6,371,639 and 6,647,284 allprovide probe covers made of thin film. Such probe covers have somedisadvantages, such as complex assembling process, inartisticappearance, wrinkled surfaces, and causing uncomfortableness to ears. Toremedy the aforementioned defects of the conventional probe covers forear thermometers, it is desired to improve the prior arts with adetachable probe cover, which can be finely adjusted when being mountedonto a probe of an ear thermometer and then has a portion correspondingto a measuring end of the probe smoothened so as to allow infrared raysstably pierce therethrough in order to ensure stableness and accuracy ofmeasuring results of the ear thermometer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the attempt to remedy the imperfectness of the prior arts, thepresent invention provides a detachable probe cover for an earthermometer that is primarily constructed from a main body of a hollowstructure and a base, wherein the main body has an open end and a closedend opposite to the open end, and the hollow structure has a diametergradually reducing from the open end toward the closed end.

Thus, it is one objective of the present invention to provide adetachable probe cover for an ear thermometer, in which the detachableprobe cover can be automatically aligned so as to be easily mounted onand not easily take off a measuring probe of the ear thermometer.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a detachableprobe cover for an ear thermometer, in which when the detachable probecover is mounted onto a measuring probe of the ear thermometer, thedetachable probe cover is smoothened so as to facilitate more stable andmore accurate measuring results of the ear thermometer.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide amanufacturing method for a detachable probe cover of an ear thermometer,in which the detachable probe cover can be automatically aligned so asto be easily mounted on and not easily take off a measuring probe of theear thermometer.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide amanufacturing method for a detachable probe cover of an ear thermometer,in which when the detachable probe cover is mounted onto a measuringprobe of the ear thermometer, the detachable probe cover is smoothenedso as to facilitate more stable and more accurate measuring results ofthe ear thermometer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives andadvantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when readin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the presentinvention, showing a detachable probe cover for an ear thermometerhaving protrusions.

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the presentinvention, showing a detachable probe cover for an ear thermometerhaving a protrudent ring.

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of a measuring probe of the earthermometer equipped with a combining mechanism of an annular structureaccording to the first or second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B is a perspective view of a measuring probe of the earthermometer equipped with a combining mechanism formed as protrudentmembers according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a sectional view of a detachable probe cover mounted on ameasuring probe of an ear thermometer according the first or secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a partially enlarged view of Part A of FIG. 3A forillustrating the detachable probe cover mounted on the measuring probeof the ear thermometer according the first or second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is an assembled view of the detachable probe cover according thefirst or second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

While the present invention discloses a detachable probe cover for anear thermometer, it is to be stated first of all that the detailedmanufacturing or processing procedures of the ear thermometer have beenfamiliar to people skilled in the art and need not be discussed atlength herein. Meantime, while the accompanying drawings are providedfor the purpose of illustration, it is to be understood that thedrawings are directed to the characteristics of the present inventionand need not to be made in scale.

Please refer to FIG. 1A for a first embodiment of the present inventionfor a detachable probe cover 1, provided for an ear thermometer, isprovided. The detachable probe cover 1 comprises a main body 11, a base12, an open end 111, a closed end 112, a flange 113, a base plate 121,an opening 122, and protrusions 41. Therein, the detachable probe cover1 is for being mounted onto a measuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer.Please proceed to FIG. 2A, wherein a combining mechanism 211 is providedat a bottom of the measuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer that may beformed as an annular structure so that when the detachable probe cover 1is mounted onto the measuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer, thecombining mechanism 211 at the bottom of the measuring probe 21 can beinlaid between the opening 122 formed at the center of the base plate121 and the protrusions 41 of the base 12 of the detachable probe cover1 so as to achieve combination between the detachable probe cover 1 andthe measuring probe 21.

The main body 11 is of a hollow structure and is integrally made ofplastic. The main body 11 has the open end 111 and the closed end 112opposite to the open end 111 while the hollow structure has a diametergradually reducing from the open end 111 toward the closed end 112 sothat the hollow structure is shaped as a short truncated cone. The mainbody 11 may be made of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP),polycarbonate (PC), polystyene (PS), poly ethylene terephthalate (PET)or poly vinyl chloride (PVC) where infrared rays can be transmittedthrough. The closed end 112 is a film wherethrough the measuring probe21 of the ear thermometer receives a radiation wave (i.e. an infraredregion) emitted by a human body. The main body 11 has a thickness ofplastic decreasing from the open end 111 toward the closed end 112 sothat the closed end 112 is the thinnest portion of the detachable probecover 1.

At least one of said flange 113 is radially extended outward from theopen end 111. The flange 113 may be a seamless integral or a sectionedflange with seams or intervals thereon, wherein the flange 113 formed asthe seamless integral is most preferred. The base 12 comprises a baseplate 121, an opening 122 formed at a center of the base plate 121, alongitudinal axis X and a transverse axis Y, wherein the longitudinalaxis X is perpendicular to the transverse axis Y. When the main body 11is parallelly inlaid into the base 12 along an inserting direction B,the opening 122 formed at the center of the base plate 121 ispositionally corresponding to the open end 111 of the main body 11.Besides, the base 12 is further provided with a pair of retainingrecesses 1211 and an entrance 1213 is formed at one end of each saidretaining recess 1211. Each of the retaining recesses includes asidewall 1215 extending upwardly from the base plate 121 and a coveringplate 1216 extending from a lateral side of the base plate 121 towardthe opening 122. Therein, the two retaining recesses 1211 aresymmetrically settled so that the flange 113 is allowed to parallellyenter and be parallelly inlaid in the base 12 through the entrances 1213along an inserting direction B, in which the inserting direction B isparallel to the longitudinal axis X of the base 12.

Furthermore, a distance between the entrances 1213 is smaller than amaximum diameter of the flange 113 of the main body 11, so that theflange 113 of the main body 11 can be secured after parallelly enteringthe entrances 1213 along the inserting direction B. In addition, adistance between two rear ends 1214 of the retaining recesses 1211 issmaller than the distance between the entrances 1213, so as to retainthe flange 113 of the inlaid main body 11 from excessively moving. Therear ends 1214 of the retaining recesses 1211 may be such extended thatthe two retaining recesses 1211 are connected mutually (as shown in FIG.4), so that when the flange 113 of the main body 11 is parallelly inlaidin the base 12 along the inserting direction B, the main body 11 isallowed to slightly shift with respect to the opening 122. Thereby, whenthe detachable probe cover 1 is to be mounted onto the measuring probe21 of the ear thermometer, since the main body 11 is allowed to slightlyshift, the detachable probe cover 1 can be smoothly mounted onto themeasuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer.

The base plate 121 of the base 12 may be further provided with at leastone block 1212 for additionally retaining the flange 113 of the mainbody 11 from excessively moving. On the other hand, the base 12 furthercomprises a guiding edge 123 for directionally guiding the detachableprobe cover 1 when the detachable probe cover 1 is to be assembled orstacked.

The retaining recesses 1211 and the base plate 121 may be integrallyformed or be assembled mutually, wherein it is most preferred that theretaining recesses 1211 and the base plate 121 are integrally formed.Furthermore, the retaining recesses 1211 and the base plate 121 of thebase 12 may be assembled mutually with a method selected from the groupconsisting of an adhesive fixing process and a heat-melting fixingprocess.

A protrudent device 4 is provided on the base plate 121 of the base 12and faces the opening 122. The protrudent device 4 is at lest two saidprotrusions 41 and a diameter of the opening 122 formed at the center ofthe base plate 121 is smaller than a diameter of the open end 111 of themain body 11 so that when the detachable probe cover 1 is mounted ontothe measuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer, the combining mechanism211 at the measuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer can be furtherinlaid between the opening 122 and the protrusions 41 of the base 12 soas to achieve combination between the detachable probe cover 1 and themeasuring probe 21. The protrusions 41 may be positioned symmetricallyon the base 12 or may be deposited on the base 12 with unequal distancestherebetween, wherein it is most preferred that the protrusions 41 arepositioned symmetrically on the base 12. Now referring to FIGS. 3A and3B, a guiding surface 411 is further provided on each said protrusion 41and facing the base 12 while a retaining surface 412 is further providedon each said protrusion 41 and facing the main body 11 so that when thedetachable probe cover 1 is mounted onto the measuring probe 21 of theear thermometer along an assembling direction 3, a first included angleθ1 included between the guiding surface 411 and the assembling direction3 is smaller than a second angle θ2 included between the retainingsurface 412 and the assembling direction 3. Thereupon, the detachableprobe cover 1 can be mounted onto the measuring probe 21 of the earthermometer with enhanced smoothness and firmness, so as to achievecombination between the detachable probe cover 1 and the measuring probe21. As in the detachable probe cover 1, a distance between the retainingsurface 412 and the closed end 112 is smaller than that between thecombining mechanism 211 and an end of the measuring probe 21, after thedetachable probe cover 1 is mounted onto the measuring probe 21 and whenthe combining mechanism 211 at the bottom of the measuring probe 21 ofthe ear thermometer abuts on the retaining surface 412, the main body 11can be expanded and deformed because the distance between the combiningmechanism 211 and an end of the measuring probe 21 is greater than thatbetween the retaining surface 412 and the closed end 112. Consequently,the closed end 112 can present a smooth surface that allows infraredrays stably pierce therethrough in order to ensure that the earthermometer obtains measuring results with less inaccuracy.

The present invention further provides a second embodiment. Please referto FIG. 1B through FIG. 4 for a detachable probe cover 1, provided foran ear thermometer, is provided. The detachable probe cover 1 comprisesa main body 11, a base 12, an open end 111, a closed end 112, a flange113, a base plate 121, an opening 122, and a protrudent ring 42. In suchcase, a combining mechanism 211 may be formed as protrudent members oran annular shape, whereby a measuring probe 21 of an ear thermometer canbe inlaid between the opening 122 formed at the center of the base plate121 and the protrudent ring 42 of the base 12 of the detachable probecover 1 so as to achieve combination between the detachable probe cover1 and the measuring probe 21. Other characteristics of the detachableprobe cover 1 may be as those disclosed in the first embodiment.

The present invention further provides a third embodiment related to amanufacturing method for the detachable probe cover 1 according to thefirst embodiment. The disclosed method comprises: (1) providing a mainbody 11, which is integrally made of plastic and has at least one flange113 extended radially from an open end 111 of the main body 11; and (2)providing a base 12, which comprises a base plate 121, an opening 122formed at the center of the base plate 121, a longitudinal axis X and atransverse axis Y, wherein the longitudinal axis X is perpendicular tothe transverse axis Y. The opening 122 is positionally corresponding tothe open end 111 of the main body 11 and the base 12 is formed with atleast one entrance 1213 for allowing the flange 113 of the main body 11to be parallelly inlaid in the base 12 along an inserting direction B,in which the inserting direction B is parallel to the longitudinal axisX of the base 12. Therein, the combining mechanism 211 provided at abottom of a measuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer is of an annularstructure (referring to FIG. 2A) whereby the combining mechanism 211 canretain the measuring probe 21 of the ear thermometer between the opening122 formed at the center of the base plate 121 and protrusions 41 of thebase 12 of the detachable probe cover 1 so as to achieve combinationbetween the detachable probe cover 1 and the measuring probe 21 of theear thermometer. Other characteristics of the detachable probe cover 1may be as those disclosed in the first embodiment.

The present invention further provides a fourth embodiment related to amanufacturing method for the detachable probe cover 1 according to thesecond embodiment. The disclosed method comprises: (1) providing a mainbody 11, which is integrally made of plastic and has at least one flange113 extended radially from an open end 111 of the main body 11; and (2)providing a base 12, which comprises a base plate 121, an opening 122formed at the center of the base plate 121, a longitudinal axis X and atransverse axis Y, wherein the longitudinal axis X is perpendicular tothe transverse axis Y. The opening 122 is positionally corresponding tothe open end 111 of the main body 11 and the base 12 is formed with atleast one entrance 1213 for allowing the flange 113 of the main body 11to be parallelly inlaid in the base 12 along an inserting direction B,in which the inserting direction B is parallel to the longitudinal axisX of the base 12. Therein, a combining mechanism 211 provided at abottom of a measuring probe of the ear thermometer is formed asprotrudent members (referring to FIG. 2B) or of an annular structure(referring to FIG. 2A) whereby the measuring probe 21 of the earthermometer can be inlaid between the opening 122 formed at the centerof the base plate 121 and a protrudent ring 42 of the base 12 of thedetachable probe cover 1 so as to achieve combination between thedetachable probe cover 1 and the measuring probe 21 of the earthermometer. Other characteristics of the detachable probe cover 1 maybe as those disclosed in the first embodiment.

Although the particular embodiments of the invention have been describedin detail for purposes of illustration, it will be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art that numerous variations will be possible tothe disclosed embodiments without going outside the scope of theinvention as disclosed in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A detachable probe cover for an ear thermometer,which is to be mounted onto a measuring probe of the ear thermometer,wherein a combining mechanism is provided at a bottom of the measuringprobe and the detachable probe cover comprises a main body of a hollowstructure and a base, in which the main body has an open end and aclosed end opposite to the open end, and the hollow structure has adiameter gradually reducing from the open end toward the closed end,which is characterized in: the main body being integrally made of aplastic material and having at least one flange radially extendedoutward from the open end; the base comprising a base plate, an openingformed at a center of the base plate, a longitudinal axis and atransverse axis, wherein the longitudinal axis is perpendicular to thetransverse axis and the opening is corresponding to the open end of themain body; a pair of retaining recesses being provided on the base plateand an entrance being provided at an end of each of the retainingrecesses, wherein: each of the retaining recesses includes a sidewallextending upwardly from the base plate and a covering plate extendingfrom a lateral side of the base plate toward the opening; and the tworetaining recesses are symmetrically settled so that the flange of themain body parallelly enters and be parallelly inlaid in the base throughthe entrance along an inserting direction, in which the insertingdirection is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the base; a distancebetween the entrances of the retaining recesses is smaller than amaximum diameter of the flange of the main body.
 2. The detachable probecover of claim 1, wherein after the flange of the main body is inlaid inthe base, the main body is allowed to slightly shift with respect to theopening so that when the detachable probe cover is to be mounted ontothe measuring probe of the ear thermometer, and since the main body isallowed to slightly shift, the detachable probe cover is smoothlymounted onto the measuring probe of the ear thermometer.
 3. Thedetachable probe cover of claim 1, wherein the hollow structure of themain body is shaped as a short truncated cone and the main body has athickness decreasing gradually from the open end toward the closed end.4. The detachable probe cover of claim 1, wherein a distance between tworear ends of the two retaining recesses is smaller than the distancebetween the entrances, so as to retain the flange of the inlaid mainbody from excessively moving.
 5. The detachable probe cover of claim 1,wherein two rear ends of the two retaining recesses are such extendedthat the two retaining recesses are connected mutually.
 6. Thedetachable probe cover of claim 1, wherein the two retaining recessesand the base plate of the base are integrally formed.
 7. The detachableprobe cover of claim 1, wherein the two retaining recesses and the baseplate of the base are assembled together.
 8. The detachable probe coverof claim 7, wherein the two retaining recesses and the base plate of thebase are assembled by a method selected from the group consisting of anadhesive fixing process and a heat-melting fixing process.
 9. Thedetachable probe cover of claim 1, wherein the base plate of the basefurther has at least one block for retaining the flange of the main bodyfrom excessively moving.